Stay with Me
by alicehatter239
Summary: Tony Stark worries about Bruce. He wants him to be happy, to live a good life. He can't do that when he's hiding from everyone. They don't know that they've both fallen for one another, hard and fast. Now a Five-Shot! Bruce/Tony slash!
1. Chapter 1

**This was inspired by two different versus from two different songs.**

**Chasing Cars; Snow Patrol**

_**I need your grace to remind me**_

_**To find my own.**_

_**If I lay here,**_

_**If I just lay here,**_

_**Would you lie with me and just forget the world?**_

_**Forget what we're told,**_

_**Before we get too old,**_

_**Show me a garden that's bursting into life.**_

**How to Save a Life; The Fray**

_**Where did I go wrong? **_

_**I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness**_

_**And I would have stayed up with you all night**_

_**Had I known how to save a life.**_

Tony Stark never once thought that Bruce Banner would be someone to commit suicide. He thought that he would keep going at trying to find a cure for his "condition." Bruce was a fighter; whether it was for himself or for others, he was a fighter. He didn't give up.

At least, that's what Tony thought.

_I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth… and the Other Guy spit it out._

Tony's heart practically stopped every time he remembered that moment. It tore him apart to know that his best friend didn't want to live. So when he invited Bruce to come and live at the tower with him, he was overjoyed to find that he accepted.

Well, not without a little persuasion_.._.

Tony had attempted to ask nicely. He called him, asked him where he was, what he was up to. Bruce didn't sound very excited that someone outside of his little _I'm-invisible-to-the-world_ shell had contacted him, but Tony was sure that if it had been anyone else from the team calling Bruce, the doctor would have hung up immediately. Tony knew that the doctor was fond of him. He knew that Bruce didn't mind having him around. Bruce was happy to find someone who actually _liked_ the Hulk.

So Tony asked Bruce to come live with him at the tower, and of course, Bruce had declined. He'd sounded a bit surprised at first, wondering why the hell someone would want him to live with them, to be around them 24/7. But even when he declined, Tony kept on trying. He tried until he was literally begging. He didn't want to leave Bruce alone out in the world. He didn't care if the Hulk would spit the bullet back out if he tried it again, because that was the thing; _he didn't want Bruce to try again. _He didn't want Bruce to have a _reason_ to try again.

"Please, Bruce. I'm _begging_ you, here." Tony pleaded. "Come and live at the Stark Tower! It'd be great to have you around!"

"For the last time, Tony, no!" Bruce replied from the other end of the phone. "Sheesh, why would you want me there, anyway?"

Tony gave an exaggerated sigh of sorrow. "I'm just so lonely here, Bruce," He sniffed. "It's so horrible being here alone with all of my items and purchased objects. It's absolute torture."

Bruce snorted through the phone.

"And plus," Tony whispered, "I think Pepper is plotting to kill me. I'm going to need someone like you -no, _specifically_ you- to protect me. I may be Iron Man, but an angry Pepper is something that I am not willing to fight on my own." He smiled.

"Tony, I'm sorry, but no. I really don't think me coming to live with you is the best idea." Bruce said pointedly.

"Bruce, you're killing me here. You've reduced me to begging. There's hardly anyone who can get me to do that. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the first to hear me like this. And just to prove my point, I'm about to send you a picture." Tony pulled up the camera on his phone, positioned it on the table in front of him so it was pointing at him, got down on his knees and folded his hands together. He jutted his bottom lip out ever so slightly and gave the camera the best puppy-dog look he could muster. The phone snapped the picture and Tony sent it to Bruce.

"It's sent!" Tony announced into the phone.

"Yeah, I just got it." Banner mumbled.

"Wow, great signal." Tony laughed. He knew it wasn't that. He designed these cell phones that he and Bruce had to be extremely fast no matter where you were. Ah, the perks of being a genius.

"That's a great look for you," Bruce said after looking at the picture. "You should use that face more often. It's a charm."

"That means _so_ much coming from you, my friend," Tony smirked. "Now, will you _please_ just accept my offer to come and live with me?"

"Alright, fine."

"Really?"

"No." Bruce hung up.

Tony groaned loudly, hanging his head. "Bruce, why must you force this upon yourself?"

What Bruce didn't know about the phones they had was that Tony installed a tracking device in each of them. He could find where Bruce was in just a few seconds.

"What the hell are you doing in the Philippines?" Tony muttered unbelievably. He shook his head and headed towards the door. "JARVIS, fire up the suit."

"Yes, sir."

"Brucey-Boy, it's time for a surprise visit."

***~*~AVENGERS*~*~**

Tony landed in some run down town somewhere in a small part of the Philippines. He made a funny face, which was probably nothing compared to the looks the people living there were giving him. He waved an awkward hand, heading toward the building his scanner indicated Bruce was in.

Parting the shaggy curtain in the doorway, he stepped inside the small building (well, tent, really) and the first thing he saw was a very tired looking Bruce hunched over a table with some papers. He could hear soft talking in the room across from them, and he figured that it was just the family Bruce was caring for. He felt sort of bad for taking him away from helping these people.

"So, what's he got?" Tony inquired about the sick man. Bruce jumped so badly that Tony thought he might've made the shorter man piss his pants.

Bruce turned around, a horrified yet annoyed expression on his face. When his eyes landed on Tony, he relaxed his face, rolled his eyes, and groaned. "Tony, you scared the living shit out of me! What the hell is wrong with you? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"There is no _way_ I'm leaving you alone. I don't care what you say; you are coming back to my tower." Tony demanded.

"No, Tony, I'm not." Bruce sighed.

"God dammit, Bruce! I already built you a room and everything!" Tony growled. He threw his hands in the air in agitation.

Banner's eyes widened. "Wait…what?"

"I cleared out one of the rooms in my tower to make it a bedroom for you. It's also a laboratory. And I made sure that it has a balcony so you can go out there for air if you're feeling pissed off or something." Tony told him bluntly.

Bruce looked awestruck. "You… You did that for me?"

"Duh," Tony stuck out his tongue. "Bruce, there is no way in hell I am ever going to leave you alone again. I know that you can control the Hulk, but I don't know how well you can control yourself."

"What do you mean by that?" Bruce cocked his head. He wasn't normally confused, but Tony had a way of doing that to him.

Tony shook his head. "I don't know how many times you've tried to kill yourself, doc, but I don't want it happening again! I can't handle losing another friend!"

_Another?_ Bruce thought. He was curious, but now probably wasn't the best time to ask him about that.

The doctor stared at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing while Tony kept the exasperated look on his face.

"Okay."

Tony kept staring. When his brain processed that Bruce had actually spoken, he stood back, blinking in surprise.

"'Okay?' That's it? You're going to come with me, now?" Tony asked.

"I will. Congratulations, Mr. Stark. You've successfully persuaded Dr. Bruce Banner. Not many people can do that. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the first." Bruce winked, quoting Tony from earlier. He began to get his things together, grabbing a few bottles and poking his head into the other room for a few seconds to hand the people in there the bottles and giving them instructions on how to use them.

He turned back to Tony, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Let's hit the road. Er, air. I don't know." Bruce blushed slightly.

_Adorable,_ Tony thought with a smile. He almost laughed at how stupidly in love he was with this guy.

"Alright, Banner. This is probably going to be a little awkward, but you're going to have to ride on my back for the time being." Tony gestured to his back with a metal gloved hand.

"If that's how it has to be," Bruce shrugged. They walked outside. Bruce put his hands on Tony's shoulders, standing behind him. Tony grabbed Bruce's wrists, hoisting him up a little bit when he began to lift up off the ground. Bruce felt his feet leave the ground, and his heart skipped a few beats from the feeling of being elevated. Once Tony was high enough, he shot forward so Bruce was basically laying chest-down on Tony's back. His arms stayed wrapped around Tony's neck from behind, perfectly content with the position he was in.

"You alright back there?" Tony asked. Bruce lifted his head and relished the feeling of the wind rushing through it.

"I'm fine, actually. It's not that bad. It's actually kind of nice." Bruce admitted. He smiled brightly, eyes reflecting the light of the stars above them. They flew over the Atlantic Ocean, the moon creating wavers of light on the water.

"JARVIS, top speed, if you will," Tony said.

"Certainly, sir," JARVIS responded. The suit suddenly boosted its speed by… well, a lot. Bruce eventually got tired of holding his head up and set it down on Tony's shoulder. The armor wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was better than killing your neck.

Tony smiled softly to himself when he felt Bruce rest his head on his shoulder and his arms wrap just a little bit tighter around him.

_He's probably just tired,_ Tony told himself, _Don't get too excited. He's had it rough for a long time. He's bound to be tired a lot._

"By the way, Bruce," Tony spoke. "I'm not the first to persuade you. Natasha already took that privilege."

Bruce chuckled. "Oh, well…"

**OHMAIGAWD.**

**Guys, this thing took me FOREVER to write. Well, not this one chapter, but the rest of the chapters. I think there's only going to be 2 or 3, though. So once I get some reviews, I'll post the next chapter :D**

**Remember the Three R's! Read, Review, and Recycle!**


	2. Chapter 2

**BAD NEWS!**

**Hey, guys…**

**Okay, please read this if you like this story. I've got some bad news. I wrote the chapters of this story on my laptop, and I regretfully did not transport it to my USB thumb drive because I couldn't find the USB. Recently my laptop was acting up, being really slow or just not working at all. Today, on one of the times I actually got it to work (but it was still being unbelievably slow), I decided to do the Recovery, where it basically wipes out everything on your computer including your files. **

**It asked me if I wanted to back my files (to save them onto my USB device in order to put them back on the laptop when it was all restarted and stuff) and I said yes, put the USB device in, and guess what?**

**IT DIDN'T WORK.**

**I don't know why! For some reason, it didn't save the files! So as of right now, ALL of my files are gone, including the chapters to this story. I bawled my eyes out for an hour straight, because I worked so flippin' hard on this story and now it's GONE. **

**So for right now, there aren't going to be any chapters posted as far as I know until I tell my mom about this and we get it fixed. If we can't get it fixed, I'm going to have to re-write the story, which could take some time because I don't exactly remember much from it, and I really liked it the way it was.**

**I'm so sorry about this. So sorry you wouldn't even believe it. I was so happy that I was getting all these good reviews on it, and I was excited to post another chapter, and now BOOM! I can't. **

**Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews on this first chapter, though. And don't lose hope! There's still a chance I can get the files back.**

**Thank you!**

**-alicehatter239**


	3. Chapter 2 real one

**Okay… so I'm re-writing this. Since all of my files were deleted, and my mom won't let me buy this thing that will apparently recover all of your old files (she has trust issues), I have to re-write this whole thing. I'm afraid it's not going to turn out as well as I want it to be, because I'm not very good at repeating good things. So, if this sucks, then I'm SO SORRY. **

**Enjoy, I guess…**

Bruce must have cashed out, because when he woke up, he was practically drooling on Tony's shoulder. He blinked his eyes once or twice to focus them and lifted his head to see that they were arriving at Stark Tower.

Tony straightened his body out and Bruce tightened his hold around the iron neck as they descended onto the platform. When Tony's feet touched the ground, Bruce removed his arms from around Tony and _attempted_ to stand up. His legs, however, felt the need to almost give out on him. He stumbled, only regaining his balance when Tony caught his arm. He smiled bashfully.

"Sleep well, Princess Banner?" Tony smirked as he continued walking through the many machines that were removing the armor from his body. Bruce laughed.

"I've had better naps, believe it or not."

"Well, come on," Tony gestured for Bruce to follow him. "I want to show you where your room is."

Bruce did as Tony said; following him through the room they were currently in and out into the hallway. Tony stopped when they reached a large metal door.

"Here we are," Tony smiled. "Room sweet r-," his smile suddenly faded as he noticed the distressed look on his friend's face. "What's wrong?"

Bruce didn't really respond. His eyes scanned the door, looking it up and down. Tony's eyes widened.

_Oh. Oh, shit._

"Oh, Christ, Bruce!" he muttered. "I- I didn't mean to- Um…"  
"Tony," Bruce cut him off. "It's okay. I understand. It's probably better that it's like that."

"No," Tony said firmly. He grabbed Bruce's shoulders. "Bruce, listen to me. I brought you here for three reasons. One, I seriously missed you. Two, I don't want you wandering around the world all by yourself. And three, I want you to be happy again. I don't want you hurting yourself anymore. I would never even _consider_ putting you in a cage or anything like that. I didn't know the door would make you think that."

Bruce stared at Tony. For once, he really didn't know what to say, so all that came out was, "I believe you."

Tony smiled, patting Bruce's shoulder. "Good."

The taller man opened the metal door, letting Bruce inside first.

_Idiot. Of all the rooms to give Bruce, you gave him the one with the huge-ass metal door. _

Tony shook his head, following Bruce inside the room. Half of the room was a bedroom, the other half a laboratory. It was _huge. _They walked over to the large bed.

"So, yeah," Tony sighed. "This is your room. You're free to do whatever you want here. If you want to sleep, sleep. If you want to make freaky potions, make freaky potions. If you want to jack-off, ja-"

"Tony," Bruce said, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I'm just saying. You can really do anything you want in here. I won't judge." Tony winked.

Bruce chuckled. "Thank you, Tony."

"No problem!"

"No, I mean it. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." Bruce told him.

"Hey, anything for my best friend," Tony smiled, his eyes sparkling. He walked closer to Bruce, wrapping his arms around him in a hug.

The doctor, however, didn't react right away. Here Tony was, hugging him of all people. Why?

Eventually, Bruce hesitantly brought his arms up, circling them around Tony. He buried his face into Tony's shoulder, pleading with himself not to start crying. It had been _years_ since someone had hugged him, let alone like this. His eyes watered, and he tried so hard not to let the tears spill, but he was sure that he felt one slide down his cheek. His hands clutched at Tony's shirt, his face still pressed into the taller man's shoulder.

Tony could feel Bruce almost shaking in his arms. He tightened his hold around him, letting him know that he was there for him.

"Bruce, it's okay… You'll be fine… I'm here…" Tony whispered. Bruce sniffed, mentally kicking himself for letting the tears come. His hands let go of Tony's shirt, slowly bringing them back to his sides. Tony let go as well, backing up to look at Bruce.

"I'm sorry," Bruce chuckled, slightly annoyed with himself. "I didn't mean to-"

"Ah," Tony stopped him, holding up a hand. "I don't want to hear it. You needed to get it out of your system, and you did. It's fine. Besides, if you ever need to, I'm here to listen." Tony gave him a warm smile.

Bruce was a little surprised by this. He had no idea that Tony could be so… _caring._ Tony was always so sarcastic and witty that it was weird to hear him be so sincere and genuine.

"I…" Bruce sighed. "Thanks, Tony."

"You're welcome," Tony shrugged. "Now, I suggest you actually get some sleep, because you look like a zombie."

"Fine," Bruce rolled his eyes. He blinked, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, wait," he pulled a shirt and a pair of pants out of his bag that was sitting on the bed. "I forgot to give these back to you. They're the clothes that you let me borrow after I Hulked-down when we beat Loki."

Tony took the clothes from him, recalling that he had indeed given him these.

"I was wondering where this shirt went," Tony muttered.

"Well," Bruce said. "Like you said, I should probably get some sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bruce."

**Aaaaaand we're done here! I hope you all enjoyed that! I'm happier with it than I thought I would be. I ended up changing it a little from the original.**

**Three R's!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Okay. Guys.**

**I'm like, really excited to work on this chapter.**

**After roleplaying Bruce/Tony stuff with people on Omegle for quite some time, I've been inspired to work on this more. So here we go :D**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Froot-Loops, or anything else from the movies, sadly.**

Tony felt awful for leaving Bruce alone last night. After Bruce's little scene in his new bedroom, he and Tony had said goodnight, leaving Bruce by himself for the night.

Tony couldn't believe he'd done that.

The sobs that he heard coming from Bruce's room made his heart break. Being able to hear them through the big metal door was terrible. He didn't fully understand _why _Bruce was crying. He _assumed_ it was mostly because he was in an unstable emotional state, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was also breaking down because he didn't want to be there.

But all in all, Tony would never forgive himself for ditching Bruce that night. The sharp cries of pain that Bruce seemed to let out were nearly killing Tony. He considered going back in there, but he didn't want to embarrass the doctor.

_Damn. What the hell is wrong with me?_

Tony entered his kitchen, finding Pepper sitting at the table with a plate of eggs sitting in front of her, hardly touched.

"Morning, Pepps." Tony chirped, trying to sound happy.

"Good morning," Pepper replied half-heartedly. She poked at her eggs.

Tony seemed to notice, quirking an eyebrow and tilting his head. "What's wrong?"

Pepper sighed. "I was just wondering… How long is Bruce going to be staying with us?"

Tony blinked. "Shit. Pepper, I was gonna tell you, but-"

"Tony, I just want to know how long he's going to be staying with us," Pepper gritted her teeth, glaring at Tony.

Tony hummed, going to the cabinet and grabbing a box of cereal. "Yes. Well, you see, the thing is…" he gestured with his cereal-box-free hand, making circle motions with it. "Bruceislivingwithusnow!" He said all in one breath. Before Pepper could even respond with him in the room, he ran out, heading for his own room. Halfway down the hall, he clearly heard Pepper scream, "WHAT!"

_CRASH!_

Tony jumped, hearing sound of many… _things_ falling to the floor. It came from down the hall, and his first thought was that Bruce had gone nutty over something and destroyed something. He had to admit, he was a little excited to see the Hulk again, considering he was fascinated by him so much.

He raced down the hall, stopping when he made it to Bruce's room. He knocked once before opening it up quickly and stepping inside. "Br-," he was about to call when he saw the doctor, currently _not_ in Hulk form, standing in the middle of a room littered with shards of glass everywhere. Bruce's hair was sticking up in all directions, so Tony guessed that he had just woken up. But why the mess?

"Bruce?" Tony snorted. Bruce snapped his attention to the taller man standing in the doorway. His shoulders relaxed and he sighed.

"Jesus," Bruce breathed. "Sorry, Tony."

"What the _hell_ happened in here?" Tony walked in, being careful not to step on any glass. There only seemed to be glass where there were tables, and Tony remembered that the tables had all had beakers and glass cylinders on them. "Did you not like the tables being cluttered or something? Because you don't have to go and knock everything off of them. You can just tell me-"

"No," Bruce cut him off. "There was a damn bird flying around in here! I left the door to the balcony open for some air last night, and I woke up this morning to a deranged bird dive-bombing all of the tables. I might have knocked over a few things myself trying to catch it, but it was mostly his fault."

Tony, at this point, was trying _so hard_ not to bust out laughing.

Bruce saw the look on his face and sighed. "Go ahead. Laugh if you want."

Tony let out one of the most obnoxious laughs he had ever heard before, doubling over and holding his stomach. "You- you're telling me that… a- a little _bird_ did all of- of this?"

Bruce chuckled. "That's exactly what I'm telling you."

"Well," Tony sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye from laughing so hard, "I guess I'll just have to order you some new stuff, then."

"Oh," Bruce shook his head. "You don't have to do that."

"I don't have to, but I will." Tony pointed out.

Bruce smiled, shaking his head. He noticed the cereal box in Tony's hand. "What is that?"

Tony looked down at the box in his hands. He realized he didn't even know what he had grabbed. "Oh, it's… Apparently, it's Froot-Loops. Want some?"

Bruce nodded, motioning Tony over. "Get over here. I'm starving." Tony laughed, a little voice somewhere in the back of his mind telling him that he should make sure Bruce stays in a good mood. He wanted to make it up to him for leaving him last night.

Tony walked closer, holding out the Froot-Loops and smirking. Bruce took the box, shoved his hand inside, grabbed a handful and began munching. "I don't think I've had Froot-Loops since I was a kid." The doctor mentioned.

"I make it a necessity to have them in the house at all times," Tony told him. He suddenly remembered, "Ah, Bruce? Might I suggest staying away from Pepper for a while?"

Bruce cocked his head. "Why?"

"Well, I didn't exactly have her permission to let you live here… And she's slightly put off by my decision." Tony shrugged.

"Doesn't like the Other Guy?" Bruce deadpanned.

"Nope," Tony shook his head, smiling just the slightest bit. Bruce laughed.

"I don't know Pepper, but I think I like her. At least she's _safe_." Bruce poked Tony's shoulder.

"Well, the only reason I'm not safe is because she might actually try to kill me now. I told you I would need you to protect me." Tony batted his eyelashes.

"Shut up," Bruce grinned, and then remembered that he wanted to ask Tony something. "Hey, Tony? Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away," Tony waved his hand.

"What _did_ happen with you and Pepper, anyway?" Bruce asked. "I know that you two were dating, but I also happen to know that you broke up. What happened there?"

Tony swallowed his mouth full of Froot-Loops, a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. Bruce was about to say that he didn't have to tell him if he didn't want to, but Tony began speaking before he could get the words out of his mouth.

"Pepper and I…" Tony sighed. "Had some creative differences. We really didn't think we could handle each other."

"Well, who ended it?" Bruce inquired.

"In a way, we both did."

"Huh?" Bruce was, for once, confused.

"My ego was too much for her to handle, and she also found out that I was…" Tony trailed off.

"That you were what?" Bruce asked.

"In love with someone else," Tony answered softly. Bruce's eyes widened, a pang of jealousy hitting him.

"Really…" Bruce breathed. "Who is it?"

Tony smiled, reaching into the box of Froot-Loops again and grabbing some.

"It doesn't matter."

***~*~AVENGERS*~*~**

"Tony."

The man of object poked an eye open from Bruce's bed, looking over at the doctor who was currently sitting at a desk. They had swept up all the shards of glass around the room, and Tony had called to order some more. "Yeah?"

Bruce stood up from the chair at the desk, walking over to Tony. "I was wondering… Could I have a look at your arc reactor? I've been curious lately."

Tony sat up and wiggled his eyebrows. "Curious about my abs, now, are we?"

Bruce tried not to blush. "Not in the least," he said, adjusting his glasses. "I just want to take a look at the reactor."

"Sure you do," Tony smirked. Bruce rolled his eyes. "Come on. Just lift your shirt up."

"Fine, fine," Tony did as he said, lifting his shirt up enough so that Bruce could see the whole reactor.

The doctor attempted to stay focused on the glowing blue light, but it was rather difficult with Tony's _ohmygodamazing_ abs sitting right underneath them. He blushed a light red, hiding it by ducking his head a little bit to see the reactor better.

He reached his hand out, his first thought being, _I wonder if it's cold or hot…?_

When he touched the reactor, he let his fingers brush over it, finding that it was neither cold nor hot. It was just… slightly warm. Comfortable.

Tony nearly jumped when Bruce's fingers accidentally brushed over his real skin, sending a tingle throughout his body. The taller man thanked his lucky stars that Bruce wasn't looking at his face, or he would see how _red_ it was!

_God, why does he do this to me?_ Tony mentally groaned. _It's not fair!_

Bruce didn't really care that he had accidentally touched Tony's skin; he'd just have to put up with it.

"So…" Bruce hummed. "The palladium in this, it was-"

"Killing me," Tony finished for him.

"And you discovered that new element, what was it?" Bruce inquired.

"Vibranium. It lasts _much_ longer than the palladium ever could, and I think it's also the same element used in Steve's shield." Tony recalled.

"Interesting…" Bruce tapped the reactor.

"Having fun?" Tony smirked.

"Tons," Bruce muttered. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know how Steve is doing, would you? We haven't seen him in a while."

Tony scowled. "No, and I don't really care. I don't like that guy."

"Oh, come on. He's not that bad." Bruce pulled back from Tony's chest. "You can put your shirt down, now."

"Thanks," Tony said, doing just that. "And he _is_ that bad. You heard him when we were in the lab. He was a jerk."

"Yeah, well, so were you," Bruce pointed out. "Just believe me when I say that he's not that bad. I could tell that you were the one egging him on."

Tony sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. Whatever makes you happy."

Bruce grinned. "I am happy."

"I'm happy you're happy." Tony stuck his tongue out.

"I'm happy that you're happy that I'm happy."

"I'm happy that you're happy that I'm happy that you're-"

"Shut up."

***Pointless ending is pointless***

**I hope you liked it!**

**THE THREE R'S GUYS.**

**REMEMBER THEM!**


	5. Chapter 4

**I got one of the specific scenes in this chapter from roleplaying on Omegle, but I'm not stealing anything from the stranger, so yeah…**

***Creepy breathing* Hi, guys…**

**Okay. Yeah. Sorry this one took FOREVER to get uploaded. The last week was finals at school and then these past couple of days I've been too lazy to write it. **

**Luckily, though, when I get to lazy to go to the computer, I write the whole thing in my head! :D**

**So here we go! In which Tony comforts Bruce.**

**Enjoy!**

Tony had never actually walked in on someone while they were sleeping. He'd seen it happen in movies and TV shows, but he'd never done it himself. So when he opened the door to the lab, expecting some sort of greeting, he stopped dead in his tracks.

It wasn't because of the fact that Bruce was out cold that made him stop; it was just how he looked.

Jesus _Christ_, what did he do to deserve this?

Bruce had apparently fallen asleep at a desk he was working at, his head facing Tony. One arm was underneath his head, cushioning it, while the other arm was just kind of lying lazily on the table. Tony couldn't help but smile like an idiot when he saw this, his heart practically melting.

It wasn't fair that he was so damn adorable. Did Tony look like that when he was sleeping? No, he probably didn't. Contrary to what most people who knew him believed, Tony wasn't that full of himself. He only pretended to be so people wouldn't see through him. He liked to keep a barrier up and he wanted people to keep thinking that he was confident about himself, if not _too_ confident. It was better than people thinking he was very self-conscious and had low self-esteem.

Bruce mumbled something in his sleep, turning his face a little so it was squished against his glasses that he had on when he fell asleep. Tony snorted lightly, shaking his head. He began to walk over to the sleeping doctor, intending on carrying him to his room and putting him to bed, but stopped and let out an exasperated breath when he saw the shirt Bruce was wearing.

It was Tony's favorite shirt. It didn't _belong_ to Tony, but it was Tony's favorite shirt that Bruce had. It was a plain, simple, light purple T-shirt, but for some reason, Tony thought it looked amazing on Bruce. "Damn it, Banner. Why do you do this to me?" he muttered to himself. Everything about Bruce caused Tony to smile or get light-headed.

He shook it off, ignoring the shirt, and walked over to tap the doctor on the shoulder. Bruce didn't respond, so Tony patted him a little harder. "Bruce…"

The shorter man mumbled something incoherent again, his hand twitching slightly. Tony smiled. "Hey, big guy, I'm gonna take you to your room, okay? You need a bed."  
"Mmm… Fine…" Bruce grumbled in his sleep. Tony found a way to lift up Bruce bridal style without really disturbing him, and began to head towards the door. It was normal for Bruce to be in the regular lab instead of the lab in his room. This one was bigger and had more equipment in it.

Tony blushed when Bruce turned his face into Tony's chest, seeking warmth. He smiled softly, wondering how one man could make him feel this way.

When he opened up the door to Bruce's room, he walked as quickly as he could to the bed, setting the sleeping doctor down on the right side. Bruce seemed to shiver a little at the loss of Tony's body heat, so Tony lifted up the blankets to Bruce's shoulders. He took the glasses off of his face, setting them on the bedside table.

"'Kay… just- sleep now, alright?" Tony whispered. He ran his fingers through Bruce's hair once, moving some stray pieces out of his face. He wanted to do it again, honestly. His hair was so _soft…_

_Snap yourself out of it, Stark. I'm sure that he doesn't want to wake up to you raping his hair,_ Tony chuckled to himself, restraining himself from running his hand through Bruce's hair again. The task in itself was quite difficult.

Tony told himself it was time to leave; to give Bruce some space to sleep. There were dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't been sleeping well lately. Tony wondered what could be causing him not to sleep. Bruce had been staying at the tower for about two weeks now, and Tony assumed that everything was fine.

_I'll just have to ask him later…_

Tony turned to leave the room, picking up some papers on the floor along the way and setting them on the desk Bruce normally worked at when he was in here.

"T- Tony?" the man in question stopped when he heard Bruce's sleepy voice. He spun on his heel, "Bruce? Did I wake you up?"

Bruce stared at Tony for a minute, a slightly worried look on his face. "No… Well, yes, but that's okay." He waved a hand, dismissing it. "Um, where are you going?"

Tony blinked. "I was just going to go to my room. It's like, one in the morning right now. You should go back to sleep."

"Oh," Bruce replied. "Okay. That's fine. I'll… I'll see you tomorrow." Tony watched with furrowed eyebrows as Bruce lifted the blankets back up over him- even over his head –and lay back down. Something was wrong.

"Hey, Bruce?" Tony cocked his head.

"Hm?" Bruce sighed from underneath the covers.

"Is everything alright?" Tony asked, walking forward. "You look like you haven't slept in a few days and the way you're acting is kinda scaring me."

"I'm fine, I guess," Bruce mumbled. Tony rolled his eyes and continued toward the bed.

"'I guess' isn't good enough," Tony told him. "What's wrong?" At this point, Tony was at the side of the bed, looking down on Bruce who was still underneath the covers.

Well, more or less. Tony had reached down and yanked the covers off of him, finding Bruce curled up in a ball.

"Nothing, Tony," Bruce lied. "I just haven't been sleeping well lately. That's all."

"Well, are you going to tell me _why_ you haven't been sleeping?" Tony asked. "Because Bruce, you need to sleep. It's not good for you to go nights on end without sleeping. I thought you would know that."

"I really don't think that it matters," Bruce shrugged. There was no eye contact with Tony right now, apparently.

"Of course it matters, you idiot," Tony flicked him on the back of the head, getting a very minor reaction from the other man.

Bruce decided to turn over, at least. He was now on his back, looking up at Tony with eyes that held so much fear it hurt Tony to look at them.

"Nightmares," Bruce stated. "I'm having a lot of nightmares lately."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Nightmares? What kind of nightmares?"

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows. "Well… I guess they're not really nightmares, per say. They're more like… night _terrors._"

Tony shivered a bit, the expression sending chills down his spine for some unknown reason. "What're those?"

Bruce thought for a minute. "They're… Oh, I don't know how to explain it. I go to sleep perfectly fine, but then I wake up one or two hours later with this sense of pure unbridled _fear._ I'm terrified for some reason when I wake up. But the thing is, I have nothing to be scared of. It's just this disturbing feeling of terror, like there's something coming to get me or something's going to happen and it won't be good. I had these night terror things when I was a kid for a few months, and now they're back and I don't know why!"

Tony stared at the doctor with wide eyes. Bruce looked absolutely horrified and confused.

"Night terrors, hmm?" Tony mumbled. "I think I went through something like that when I was a kid, too. Maybe it's not the exact same thing you're talking about, but it sounds similar to what I went through. I don't remember what I did to get rid of it, though."

Bruce looked at Tony, disappointed to hear that he didn't have a solution. "Great. Just great."

"Well," Tony crossed his arms. "Do _you _remember what you did to get rid of them?"

"No," Bruce admitted. "I think they just went away- wait a minute…" Bruce narrowed his own eyes, trying to remember something. "I… Yes, I do… When I had gotten tired of them, I decided to tell my mother about them. She didn't take me to a therapist, she just told me to sleep in her bed until they go away. They went away within that week. I guess that just having someone close by made me feel better…" Bruce glanced up at Tony, his face reddening slightly with the sudden realization of what he was implying. Tony seemed to be blushing a bit as well.

"Okay," Tony drawled out. "Then all you need is someone here with you until they disappear." Tony raised his hand. "I'll be a good sport and volunteer."

There were many things that Tony did not think he'd be doing while Bruce was living here, one of them being _sleeping in the same god damn bed as him._

What? There aren't any couches in the room…

Bruce smiled nervously. At least the bed was big. "Thanks."

"Bruce, you don't need to thank me, I'm just doing my job." Tony claimed.

"Sleeping in the same bed with other men?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"Nope," Tony smiled. "Just you."

Bruce blushed for what seemed like the thousandth time. He scooted over to the left side of the bed, pulling the blankets up over him again. Tony shook his head in amusement, climbing in after him and staying put on the right side. He was already in decent sleeping clothes, so there was no need to change. Normally Tony would sleep clad in only his boxers, but he didn't want to make Bruce uncomfortable.

"Night," Bruce murmured.

"Night," Tony replied softly. He wanted so badly to hug Bruce right now. He looked so scared, so helpless. It was killing Tony to see him like this.

He would just have to keep him safe.

**~*~*AVENGERS*~*~**

Tony awoke a couple of hours later to hear shaky breathing and soft whimpers. He immediately panicked, turning over quickly to see Bruce sitting up in the bed with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. It was dark, so Tony could only see his outline, but he could hear him perfectly.

"Hey, Bruce…" Tony whispered. Bruce jumped a little, snapping his head over to the source of the voice. His eyes were wide with fear, Tony could tell that much.

"T- Tony," Bruce choked. Tony nodded and sat up, moving closer to Bruce.

"It's me, big guy," Tony said quietly. "Don't worry, you're fine."

Bruce shook his head violently. "I- I don't know what's wrong," he spoke. "I just want it to _stop_…"

"And I'll make it stop," Tony said, wrapping an arm around Bruce's shoulders. Bruce instinctively leaned into the contact, his head turning toward Tony's neck and his face pressing into the warmth. "You don't need to be afraid of anything, Bruce. Nothing's going to hurt you."

"I- I know, but-"

"Bruce," Tony said, "As long as I'm here, as long as I've got you, _nothing_ is going to hurt you. I swear."

Bruce continued to shake, and Tony could tell that the doctor was crying. Whatever he was going through, it must have been absolutely horrifying.

Tony held Bruce, his head resting on top of the shorter man's head, one hand sliding up and down his arm. "Shh, it's okay, I'm here," he cooed, letting Bruce progressively calm down. He was thankful that Bruce had a good enough handle on the Hulk that he didn't change from this.

Bruce's shaking eventually stopped, his breathing returned to normal, and if Tony was correct, then he was asleep.

Tony chuckled lightly, lying back down. He brought Bruce with him, letting him keep his head on his shoulder and his hand on his chest. Tony smiled to himself, bringing his hand up to rest it on top of Bruce's. He wouldn't let anything happen to Bruce, and if he woke up again, he'd be right there to make everything better.

_You're safe._

**JESUS CHRIST. There's going to be another chapter, because I felt that this was a really good place to stop this one.**

**The Three R's, you guys! THE THREE DANG R'S!**


	6. Chapter 5

When Tony awoke, a smile instantly brightened his face.

He was still cuddled up with Bruce, although their position had changed a bit. Bruce's face was pressed into Tony's neck like before, his breath washing over it. His hand, however, was no longer on his chest. His whole arm was wrapped around Tony's waist, causing his body to be pressed even closer to Tony's. Their legs were slightly intertwined, but not enough to make it awkward.

Tony had his face practically pressed into Bruce's hair (not that he minded), and his arm was around the other man's shoulders, bent so that his hand was touching his upturned shoulder. Happy with the position they were in, Tony stayed quiet and still, not wanting to wake the doctor up. He wasn't sure how he would react and he wanted this moment to last for as long as he could make it.

Tony's unconsciously traced circles into Bruce's shoulder with him thumb, sighing with content. Bruce's breathing was soft and slow against his neck, sending shivers of delight down his spine every two seconds. He assumed there was nothing that could ruin this.

"Tony?"

The man in question froze. His thumb stopped its motions, he held his breath, and his eyes widened a little.

"Tony," Bruce spoke again, "You're awake, aren't you?"

Tony didn't answer right away, his brain panicking. _You knew he would wake up eventually, dumbass,_ Tony told himself. "Yeah. I'm awake."

"Shit," Bruce said under his breath. Tony shot the doctor a surprised look as he disentangled himself from Tony, sitting up. Bruce almost _never_ swore.

"Doctor Banner!" Tony said with mock surprise, "Language!"

Bruce rolled his eyes, ignoring the statement. He looked around the room for a moment, shaking his head. His eyes wandered back to Tony, who was still lying on his back in the bed. "Sorry about… Well, you know…"

Tony held up his hand, closing his eyes. "Hey," he said, "There's nothing to apologize for. You were scared; I got you to calm down. It's not anyone's fault we woke up like that."

Bruce smiled sheepishly. "Okay," he replied. He stood, stretched, and yawned while Tony rolled out of the bed, his feet hitting the floor. As he cracked his neck, his hand flew to his stomach when it growled.

"Well, then," Tony raised his eyebrows. "I guess I'm gonna go get some breakfast before my stomach decides to continue singing the song of its people. You coming with?"

Bruce shook his head, "I'm going to grab a shower. I'll meet you downstairs afterwards."

"I shall be desperately awaiting your arrival, Doctor Banner!" Tony dramatically lifted a hand to his forehead, fluttering his eyelashes.

Bruce chuckled, a small smile forming. "Just go eat, you idiot," he said as he walked into the bathroom. Tony laughed before turning and heading toward the door.

Halfway to the elevator, he stopped. "JARVIS, did you get the pipelines for the shower fixed?"

"No, sir," the AI responded.

"Well, get them fixed! I doubt that Bruce wants to be taking a cold shower!" Tony said, exasperated that JARVIS hadn't gotten them repaired yet.

"Certainly, sir."

"And make sure that you don't screw anything up, because I don't want to know what'll happen if Bruce is suddenly attacked by scorching water," Tony pointed out.

"Of course, Mr. Stark," JARVIS complied.

But what Tony didn't realize was that Bruce was planning on taking a cold shower anyway, so it really didn't matter.

**~*~*~AVENGERS*~*~**

"Morning, Tony."

Tony stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow, looking at the woman in front of him. "Good morning, I guess?"

The woman, Pepper Potts, smiled. "What's with the weird look?"

"Well," Tony began. "You're standing in the middle of the kitchen, smiling, and you said 'good morning.'"

She nodded. "So?"

Tony continued to stare at her. "Did someone put something in your breakfast?"

She laughed. "No! I'm just… happy, is all."

"Uh-huh…" Tony nodded slowly. He made his way over to the fridge, taking the milk out. What was Pepper's deal this morning? She was usually very serious and monotone. It was freaking Tony out.

Grabbing Froot-Loops again, he went to the counter, setting the milk and cereal down along with a bowl and a spoon. He kept an eye on Pepper, who was still standing where she had been standing before, a smile _still_ plastered onto her face.

Tony eyed the milk carefully, opening the top and looking inside. "You poisoned this, didn't you?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Not at all," Pepper shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, then, what _did_ you do to it?" Tony shook the carton around, looking for anything weird that might be floating inside of it.

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" Pepper held up her hands in defense. "Jeez, a girl says good morning and suddenly she's trying to kill everyone."

"Hmm, no," Tony pursed his lips. "You're just trying to kill me. Not Bruce. Lord knows what would happen if you tried to kill Bruce."

"Although that's a good theory, I am, in fact, not trying to kill you," Pepper said. She stepped over to the sink, running the water and pouring soap into it so she could do whatever dishes they had used later.

"Alright," Tony gave up, "I believe you. But I know that there's something you're not telling me."

Pepper sighed. She _did_ want to tell Tony something. She wanted to tell him, but she wasn't sure if he would get upset or if he would laugh… Honestly, she was hoping for the latter reaction. Pepper wasn't normally the type of person to get excited over things, but what she knew was just too good to _not_ freak out over. Now she understood the feeling that a lot of women got when they saw Tony. Fangirls, she supposed. She snorted a bit at the thought.

"What is it?" Tony asked, pouring the Froot-Loops into the bowl, along with the milk. After putting the cereal and milk carton away (but not without one last suspicious glance at it), he returned to the side of the counter where his bowl was.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Pepper shrugged. She turned off the faucet when the sink was decently filled.

"Ah, but I think it _is_," Tony winked.

"No, Tony, it's not!" she fought back. Tony set his spoon down and stared at Pepper. She was hiding something, and he intended to find out what it was.

"Tell me," he insisted.

"It's not important, though."

"If it's not important, then why can't you tell me?" Tony pointed out. He leaned forward, placing his hand on the counter to support his bodyweight. He gave Pepper an expectant look.

"Um…" Pepper didn't know what to say at this point. Frankly, she was a bit too worried to tell Tony what she was hiding because, once again, she had no idea what his reaction would be! She bit her lip, anxious to tell him but at the same time not. She could feel Tony's expectant glare on her, and that really didn't help much.

Tony continued to stare at her until she literally _could not_ take it anymore. She sighed in defeat. "Fine! I'll show you!"

Tony blinked. "Show me?" he asked. "Pepper, if you're thinking of showing me your boobs or something, don't even bother because I've already seen them-," he stopped when he saw the death glare she was giving him. "Sorry."

"You're such a pig sometimes," she rolled her eyes. "Wait, make that most of the time."

"Hey, I've been better lately!" Tony defended.

"Yep, and I think I know why," Pepper said, digging in her pocket for something.

Tony blanched. "Oh, really?"

Pepper pulled her phone out of her pocket, her fingers desperately sliding over the screen. The smile on her face grew wider with every swipe, finally pulling up a picture. She shoved the phone into Tony's face.

Tony, not being able to see what the hell she was holding in front of him because it was so close to his eyes, grabbed her wrist lightly and moved it away, taking the phone from her grasp.

Tony gave Pepper another weird glance before looking down at the phone.

He basically choked on his own spit.

"What- what the hell?" he coughed, his face reddening in embarrassment.

Pepper was practically jumping up and down. "You guys are just so _cute!_" she squealed.

Tony gaped at her, "Okay, seriously, Pepps. Did someone give you weed or…?"

Pepper frowned (which was quite a relief to her mouth muscles), "Tony! Come on," she said, crossing her arms. "Would I ever do weed?"

"Not sure," Tony shrugged. He looked back down at the picture, blushing once again. The picture was, regrettably, of Tony and Bruce _in bed_, cuddling and sleeping. Instead of looking how they did when Tony woke up this morning, though, he saw that their fingers were laced together on top of Tony's chest, barely covering the arc reactor.

"You two are adorable, you know that, right?" Pepper smiled again. Tony shook his head unbelievably.

"I can't believe you did this," he muttered. "How did you get this, anyway?"

"I was… kind of looking for you because I had a question about something this morning, and when I saw that you weren't in your room, I went to look in Bruce's room. I thought that maybe you had gone in there to work on some early morning science project. But when I opened the door, I was greeted with this lovely little picture," Pepper explained, pointing to her phone. "Now it's my turn to ask. Why were _you_ sleeping with him?"

Tony pressed his lips together. "That's his personal information. Not my place to tell."

"Okay, I can deal with that," Pepper nodded. She looked at Tony's bowl. "You done with this?" Tony glanced in it, seeing that it was still half full, but the cereal was soggy. "Yeah."

Pepper rolled her eyes, emptying the bowl into the garbage disposal in the sink. She set the dishes in the soapy water before turning back to Tony.

"You know," Tony said, "You're going to have to delete that."

"What?" Pepper gasped. "No! I don't want to! I'm setting it as my wallpaper on my phone."

"Pepper, please?" Tony whined. "Just delete it!"

"Why?" Pepper put her hands on her hips.

"I don't want to risk Bruce seeing it," Tony admitted.

"Why would that be so bad?" Pepper asked.

"Hey! You were so apprehensive about showing _me_ it, so why aren't you scared that Bruce will see it?" Tony threw up his hands. "And besides, we woke up kind of like that, and he was really weird about it. If he sees that, I don't what he'll think."

Pepper gazed at Tony, feeling sorry for him. "I'm not deleting it. It's going as my wallpaper. But I swear to God, I won't let Bruce see it, Tony."

Tony let out a frustrated breath. "Fine."

"So how long have you had feelings for him?" Pepper asked out of nowhere.

Tony choked again, nervously laughing at the same time. "What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Please, Tony," Pepper poked him. "It's sort of obvious."

"I don't have feelings for him!" Tony lied. "I was just… making sure that he was okay last night! Like I said, personal stuff."

"You're horrible at lying," Pepper deadpanned. "But at least now I know who it is that you're in love with. Nice to know you broke up with me for a man."

"I'm not in love with him, though!"

"Hey, I'm actually happy about that. I mean, if you had broken up with me for another woman, I would be a bit angry. But for some reason, it doesn't bother me that it's Bruce." Pepper said.

"You're not even listening to me," Tony muttered.

"Okay, okay," Pepper laughed. "I'm sorry. I'll stop."

"Thank you!" Tony sighed with relief.

"You love him."

"Oh my god!" Tony groaned, face palming. It was useless to fight against Pepper right now.

With another death glare toward Pepper, he stalked over to the table and sat down, waiting for the woman that was giving him so much grief to make her own breakfast and leave him alone.

**~*~*AVENGERS*~*~**

Tony sat at the table, tapping his fingers, watching Pepper as she ate. Bruce was still upstairs.

It was silent until Pepper's phone rang, indicating that she had received a text. She took out her phone, reading the text.

"What are you doing a week from today?" she asked Tony.

"It depends," Tony replied calmly. "What's happening that day that you need to know what I'm doing?"

"There's a press conference that-," Pepper attempted tell him.

"I'm busy," Tony said immediately.

Pepper narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing that day that's so important you can't go to a press conference?"

"Breathing."

Pepper growled. "You need to start attending more of these meetings, Tony."

"I just went to one last week!" Tony complained. "I need a few weeks off, Pepps. I hate those stupid conferences."

"Fine," Pepper sighed, texting back that Tony couldn't make it that day. After the message was sent, she looked back up at Tony. "Can you please just admit that you're in love with Bruce?"

Tony threw his head back. "For the last time, I'm not in love with the damn guy!"

"You're in denial," Pepper quipped. "So much denial it hurts."

"Nope. No denial here. I'm denial free!" Tony said sarcastically. "I don't love the guy, Pepper… And even if I did, it wouldn't work."

"Why not?" Pepper questioned.

"Because he doesn't feel the same way," Tony said softly.

Whether Tony knew it or not, he had basically just admitted that he did in fact love Bruce. Pepper held back a shout of joy for his sake.

"You never know until you-"

"Until I what?" Tony snapped. "Until I suddenly confess everything to him? Until I kiss him out of nowhere? That's not going to happen."

Pepper stared sadly at Tony, her eyes full of sympathy. She wondered how hard it must be for someone like Tony to actually _love_ someone as much as he probably loved Bruce. It hurt her to see him like this.

"What's not going to happen?" A voice suddenly spoke. Tony and Pepper snapped their attention to the source of the voice, seeing Bruce standing in the doorway, freshly showered and dressed in a plain T-shirt and jeans.

"Uh…" Tony said intelligently. He tried to think of an explanation for what he had said. "I was talking to Pepper about a press conference next week. I should go to the conference, but I had planned a day at the movies for the three of us… So I told her the movies weren't going to happen."

"Why not? We can go to the movies," Bruce blinked. "The conference can't be all that important."

"Wow," Tony said, surprised. "I would have thought you'd agree with me about _attending_ the conference."

"Nah," Bruce shrugged. "We all need a day off to just do nothing. And going to the movies sounds like a good idea."

Tony shot Pepper a triumphant glance, chuckling when she glared at him. He tore his eyes away, watching Bruce as he went to the fridge to grab eggs. He got a pan out, setting it on the stove and turning the flame on.

Tony stood up, cracking his back, and then taking Pepper's empty plate from her and sticking it in the dish water. He decided to do her a favor and just take care of the dishes that needed to be washed, setting them on a towel to dry. He looked up to see her smiling at him. He smiled back, nodding.

Turning around, he noticed Bruce at the stove with one hand on the handle of the pan his eggs were cooking in, but he wasn't paying any attention to them. One side of the eggs was already cooked, but Tony knew that if Bruce kept staring off into space like that, the other side would burn very quickly.

He took a few steps over to Bruce, boldly placing his hand over the one the shorter man had on the handle. He smiled, slightly amused, when Bruce suddenly snapped back to full attention, blushing and looking at Tony.

"You're going to burn them," Tony chuckled, grasping Bruce's hand and making him lift the pan off of the stove. He set the pan down on the counter to the side, and then removed his hand from Bruce's to turn the flame off.

"Th- Thanks," Bruce stuttered nervously.

"Just pay more attention," Tony grinned. "I don't want you burning this place down."

"Sorry," Bruce smiled sheepishly. He felt a little silly for letting himself get distracted by his stupid thoughts.

Tony didn't say anything back. He just turned around and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Bruce asked.

"A man can only _not_ piss for so long," Tony laughed before leaving the room. Bruce smiled to himself, his eyes lingering on the doorway.

Pepper seemed to notice Bruce's strange behavior. "Bruce?" she spoke, "Is everything alright?"

Bruce blinked. "Hm? What was that?" he asked, facing her.

"Is everything alright?" she repeated herself.

Bruce sighed, looking back at the doorway, his eyes wandering the space around it.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Everything's fine."

***~*~AVENGERS*~*~**

Tony Stark was always one to feel restless. And when he felt restless, he tended to walk around his entire tower doing absolutely nothing but peering into rooms for something to entertain him.

It was around eleven-thirty at night when he decided that he should start heading to Bruce's room. He planned on staying with him through these next few nights to help him get over his night terrors, or however long it took. He didn't care. He liked being with Bruce. Hell, he'd stay with him night _and _day if he had to, just to make him feel better.

Just to make the fear go away.

… And maybe even after that.

Tony rolled his eyes at himself. When he finally got to Bruce's room, he knocked a few times and opened it without waiting for a response.

_BAM!_

Tony's jaw dropped a bit when he stepped in. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that Bruce was trying to kill him.

Then again, Pepper was also trying to kill him, he was pretty sure. So the notion that Bruce would be trying to kill him, too… Well, that just seemed to be bordering on paranoia.

Tony forced his mouth to close, clearing his throat a bit. Bruce looked up from where he was lying on his bed – shirtless – and spoke, "Oh, hey, Tony."

"Hi," the taller man waved, closing the door behind him as he walked further in.

"You need something?" Bruce asked. Tony stopped, blinking in surprise.

"Um, no," he said, "It's late. I just thought I'd head in for the night. We don't know if you're over those night terror things yet."

Bruce sat up, "You actually want to stay another night?"

"Well, duh," Tony stuck his tongue out. "I'm not going to leave you here to deal with it on your own. Why wouldn't I stay?"

Bruce ducked his head a little. "I don't know… Maybe because of the position we woke up in this morning?"

Tony sighed. "That doesn't matter to me," he told Bruce, "Besides; it was actually very… comfy." Bruce looked up at that.

"Alright, then," he sighed, lying back down. He stared up at the ceiling fan, his eyes darting around.

"What are you doing?" Tony snorted, looking at Bruce and then the fan.

"Following one blade on the fan," Bruce shrugged. He glanced at Tony, seeing the odd expression on his face. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me you've never done that before."

"Whatever," Tony chuckled, sitting on the bed beside Bruce. He looked over to see Bruce staring at him this time. "What?"

Bruce shook his head. "I've been curious," he stated. "Now, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to because I'm sure it's a sensitive topic, but it's kind of been driving me up a wall. When you came to bring me here, you mentioned the fact that you couldn't handle losing another friend. Who was the other friend?"

Tony stayed motionless, not looking at Bruce or making a sound.

"L- Like I said," Bruce panicked, fearing he had overstepped a boundary, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to! I was just wondering…"

"No," Tony held up a hand this time. "I'll tell you. It's fine." He got into a more comfortable position, as did Bruce. "Okay… When I was a teenager, I met this kid named Danny at school. He was new and he was clumsy and nervous, so I decided to help him out a bit. I was the confident, cocky, nerd of the school that no one seemed to notice, but I figured that we could be invisible together. We became friends – eventually best friends – and by the time we hit our twenties, we were basically brothers. We went around bars and pubs scoring chicks and taking them home… What with so much time around me, Danny had gotten better around people.

"And then Danny got a girlfriend. A real, honest-to-goodness girlfriend. I didn't know what to think. I was happy for him, sure, but that meant we couldn't do our normal thing and he'd be hanging out with her sometimes instead of me. When he introduced me to her, right away I could tell there was something wrong with her. Something about her didn't seem right. Danny didn't see it, though, I could tell that much, so I didn't bring it up to him. I was nice to her, I treated her well, but she didn't like me either. Danny and I were still hanging out a lot, although we weren't picking up girls anymore. I mean, I did sometimes when he wasn't around, but not as much as I did before.

"It was after a good three months when I finally started to realize that he was… Er, drifting away, I guess. When he wanted to be with his girlfriend, I wasn't allowed to come. I never saw her, but he was with her a _lot_. And when he would come and hang out with me, she was never with him and he seemed sort of… depressed. When I talked to him on the phone, he was quick and to the point and the conversations never lasted long. And when he was with me in person, he just acted sort of lifeless. It was scaring me.

"Then on the sixth month, he was all of a sudden _happy_ again. He seemed okay. I had no idea what the hell to think about it. Suddenly being happy after being depressed for three months straight isn't normal. Anyway, one night, we planned to catch a movie and hang out afterwards, so I went to his apartment complex and went up to his room," Tony paused for a moment here, looking at the sheets on the bed. He could feel Bruce's concerned stare. It only took him a moment to realize that he was dangerously close to actually _crying_. He continued anyway. "I knocked on his door, but he didn't answer. I found that it was unlocked, I walked in, and Bruce, I've never been so terrified in my entire life than I was when I saw what was in there. Danny was hanging - _hanging,_ Bruce – from the fucking _ceiling._ A rope was around his neck and his feet were just dangling there and a chair was behind him and… Bruce, I can't have that happen again. I _can't_."

He was surprised to feel Bruce pull him into a hug, his now tear stained face pressed into the shorter man's neck. "I knew there was something wrong with that girl," Tony choked out. "I _know_ she was the reason he killed himself. She was determined innocent, of course. People are too fucking blind to see these things."

Bruce felt horrible. He didn't have any idea before why Tony cared so much about his attempt at killing himself. But now he did, and he couldn't believe how stupid he had been.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "God, Tony, I'm so sorry…"

"Just… Bruce, can you promise me you won't try again?" Tony asked desperately.

Bruce's eyes widened. He honestly didn't know if he could make that big of a promise. "Tony, I-"

"Promise me!" Tony pleaded, squeezing his eyes shut.

This was a big thing for Bruce to promise, and Tony didn't really realize that. Bruce wasn't sure he could keep that promise if something were to happen to the people he cared about. He knew the attempts would never work, but it gave him closure just to _try_. Holding a gun in his hand… it was a great feeling when it seemed that the universe was against him.

But being with Tony was an even better feeling. He had to make this promise. He didn't know what would happen to Tony if he didn't. And he had to _keep_ it.

"I… I promise," he whispered, knowing there was no turning back now.

Tony looked up, a relieved smile on his face and tears still flowing.

"Thank God."

**~*~*AVENGERS*~*~**

After Tony and Bruce's little talk, they had gotten ready for bed and climbed in together, both on their own sides. Bruce woke up once during the night, but this time it was easier for Tony to calm him down. They both seemed to be doing a lot of comforting each other, lately, it seemed.

And once again, they woke up in the same position they had the morning before. Bruce's face in Tony's neck, Tony's arm around Bruce's shoulder while Bruce's arm was around the other man's waist. Tony was just as happy as he had been the other morning.

"You were right," Bruce said against Tony's neck. "This is pretty comfortable."

"I told you," Tony smiled into Bruce's hair.

"We should probably get up, though," Bruce said regrettably. For a moment it felt as if he had pressed himself even closer to Tony.

"We probably should," Tony agreed. He didn't move for a moment and neither did Bruce, both very hesitant to ruin what they were feeling right then. Once Bruce squirmed a bit, though, Tony took that as an opportunity to get up. He sighed, untangling himself from Bruce once again.

"Thanks again for staying with me," Bruce said, sliding out of the bed along with Tony. He smiled softly, running a hand through his hair.

"My pleasure," Tony grinned, nodding. He stared at Bruce as he ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair, asking himself how one man could be so amazingly attractive in every way possible.

Bruce caught Tony staring and straightened up a little, cocking his head. "Tony?"

"What?" Tony said absentmindedly.

_"You never know until you-"_

_ "Until I what? Until I suddenly confess everything to him? Until I kiss him out of nowhere? That's not going to happen."_

"Are you okay?" Bruce asked, taking a step forward. Tony sighed.

"Nope, not at all," he said blatantly. Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Was it something I did?" Bruce immediately jumped to conclusions. "It was, wasn't it? I knew I shouldn't have asked you to stay with me…"

"You're an idiot," Tony deadpanned, walking forward. Bruce stopped rambling and looked up at Tony with a confused and slightly shocked expression. Tony continued toward him, finally invading his personal space and touching their noses together. "But you're an idiot that's probably going to kill me." Without any warning, Tony pressed his lips to Bruce's, squeezing his eyes shut in hope that Bruce wouldn't back away. Bruce didn't back away, but it took him a moment to realize that _Tony god damn Stark _was kissing him.

Oh.

Tony was kissing him.

_That's your move, Banner. It's time to react, now._

Bruce blinked a few times before finally melting into the kiss, bringing his arms up around Tony's neck and tilting his head to deepen it. Tony let out a little happy noise, surprised to find that Bruce was actually kissing him back. He lifted one hand to Bruce's hair, threading his fingers through it while pressing his other hand to Bruce's lower back.

It was after what seemed like hours that they realized you need oxygen to live and broke apart, Tony leaning his forehead against the shorter man's.

"So… You're not going to kill me?" he asked jokingly.

"That's Pepper's job, isn't it?" Bruce quipped, chuckling. Tony laughed, pulling away and reaching up to take one of Bruce's hands, lacing his fingers through the others.

"Speaking of Pepper," Tony said, smiling. "We should give her something to be excited about this morning."

Bruce furrowed a brow at Tony. "She'd be okay with this?"

"Oh, trust me," Tony nodded, his eyes widening a bit. "She'll be more than okay with it."

Bruce shrugged, allowing Tony to drag him down to the kitchen, their fingers still intertwined. Upon entering the kitchen, Tony noticed Pepper playing with her phone and grinned.

"Morning, Pep," he chirped, waving his free hand and squeezing Bruce's. He glanced over at Bruce who had a bit of a concerned expression on his face. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, good morning to you too-," Pepper stopped when she turned her head and saw Tony and Bruce's hands clasped together. She didn't freak out; she didn't even let out a happy little squeak.

She simply shook her head, smiled, and said, "I knew it."

**So there you guys have it. This thing took FOREVER to write, in case you haven't noticed. I've just been so busy lately and I got obsessed with doing roleplays and ugh I can't even.**

**So I really hoped you enjoyed this story, because I loved writing it. I had to rewrite this chapter TWICE. Ya'll had better be damn happy with this.**

**Remember the Three R's! :D Bye!**


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